Teach students how to be good digital citizens.
I am steps I am going to take is modeling by showing students how to be good citizen myself, I hope to inspire them to follow suit. This also means I need to learn how to be a good digital citizen myself and that is going to take some research. I need to look how I am using the internet and if I am falling into the same traps as my students. I am going to monitor my uses of the internet and what I use it for, by keeping a data base of what I do and time I spend online every week. I am going to evaluate my learning my seeing if by being aware of my usage online am I making an changes for the better. I am also going to study what it means to be a good digital citizen. I had an article from my last webclass that gave some good starting points for students.
My second goal is;
To inspire students to learn and to do it creatively
As and English teacher, even I grow tired of the same old routine of pre-write, write, edit, rewrite and turn it in. Students are just going through the motions and often I feel they are not pulling anything away from it besides of how to mess with the font of the paper. Because of this I am going to work to rewrite several of my lessons to be more technology integrated and give students a chance to show what they have learned from the lesson instead of just writing a paper about it. I am going to have to do some research though about how to adapt lessons with technology, because even doing powerpoints all the time isn't expanding the students skills. How I plan on monitoring my students learning and creativity is by looking at their projects. Did they go outside of what was expected of them? Was it something original or are they just mimicking each other? The biggest way to reflect on this is going to be feedback from students. How did they feel the lesson went, what did they really learn? Are they pulling the skills and content that I need them to understand or has it turned into something just like art class?
I have two questions for my fellow readers:
How would you monitor a students creativity? Would your assessment happen a different way?
Courtney
Courtney,
ReplyDeleteI agree that adults are prone to complain about kids using the internet inappropriately but then do not take the time to teach them appropriate uses of the internet. I think it is every educator’s job to promote ethical and safe use of the internet and teach our students the proper way to use the internet. I also think that it is imperative that we teach students how to think critically and provide them with the tools they will need in order to solve any problem they encounter throughout life. When you are compiling your database, are you going to include every instance that you get online? This seems like it will be a monstrous undertaking, because I know personally I get online in short burst throughout the day to check e-mail, and then at other times I spend several hours looking at articles and social media. Maybe to simplify your data collection you may want to focus your database to searches or something along those lines so that you are not counting every time you check an e-mail. As for monitoring your students’ progress, I like that you will be asking them their thoughts on the process. I think what the students think is a valuable resource that a lot of teachers overlook. I think to measure a student’s creativity you need to look at how their ideas are being presented, are they original methods or are they the same cookie cutter methods used by everyone? I think you are on the right track with your assessment of your students skills, I think a rubric may help you though that way you are focusing on the same aspects for each student even though each students work might not be the same.
Richard,
DeleteI have thought about what you said. I think you are right I need to look at what I spend the majority of my time doing online. I will not include checking my email.
I have actually been working on a rubric but one think I like to do with rubrics is I like to have students have a voice in it? I love watching students come up with creative things and I can easily tell if they thought of it themselves or mimicked something on line.
How would you go about making a rubric to rate creativity?
Courtney you definitely have your hands full with the middle school age group when it comes to internet etiquette and I applaud your awareness and effort to model it positively for your students. During elementary school many parents are still closely monitoring the technology access of their children. Middle school and upwards into high school really expands the playing field and many teens no longer have the parent looking over their shoulders while they are on their phones and computers. Couple that with the impulsivity of the teen brain, increased social pressure and academic pressures and a lot can happen online with significant consequences. I think it is important for educators to be very explicit in how they teach what is expected on the internet. It goes WAY beyond telling them to not play a game during a class. I really think because we see the potential positives and negatives that social media can bring, that educators need to be that tap on the shoulder of our teen students shoulders. Some times we have to be very deliberate in reminding them that just because they only sent a picture or a Tweet to one person, does not mean that only one person will ever see it.
ReplyDeleteDiane Miller
Diane,
DeleteI agree greatly on how lack the awareness of what students are doing online when they are older then from when they are younger. One reason for my goal for the want to teach students how to be good digital citizens is the ability to have students work on their own projects and not have to stand over their shoulders making sure they aren't doing anything terrible. Also I feel it will help with the rise in cyberbullying.
Courtney-
ReplyDeleteYour first goal is one that I feel all teachers and districts should be adopting in their curriculum. With technology being such a large part of our everyday lives now, we must be teaching our students how to be navigating the Internet responsibly and being a good digital citizen when they are posting content and responding to others. Future employers will be looking at this skill and it could eventually determine whether they are hired or not. I think your first step of suggesting that we as teachers model this for our students is the best thing we can all do. When students see us doing it, they begin to see how important it is instead of us just telling them all the time. This should be a skill that gets taught even briefly in the elementary grades so that by the time students are in middle school it is second nature to them.
Your second goal is one that I can definitely relate to being an English teacher myself. My students hate the writing process and find it very mundane each time we work on a new composition. I have recently been working on an end of the year research project with my students and throughout the process I have done the best I can to integrate different technologies that will interest them and keep them engaged throughout the unit. While we still are taking notes from resources they have found, I am having my students create concept maps through Webspiration classroom so that they all have a digital representation of their work and are able to manipulate it in a way that best fits their needs and desires. I have also added in a blogging portion to the assignment so they are blogging about their findings and other students in the classroom have the opportunity to respond and add their thoughts and information as well. I have definitely seen an increase in their motivation to work on the project and I have enjoyed seeing their work as well! As it was stated in our resources this week, "while technology is not essential to creating authentic, learner-centered instruction, it offers a powerful resource for engaging students in authentic experiences, typically both increasing their motivation and their learning" (Cennamo, Ross, & Ertmer, 2009, p. 51). I think you have created a great "game" plan of action!
Kori
Cennamo, K., Ross, J. & Ertmer, P. (2009). Technology integration for meaningful classroom use: A standards-based approach. (Laureate Education, Inc., Custom ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning.
I wanted to share a resource that I use in my class to help with the first standard you addressed. Check it out and let me know what you think! http://www.commonsensemedia.org/educators/toolkits
ReplyDeleteThank you for the resource
DeleteIn this post on this blog you are talking about the importance of teaching students about digital citizenship and that you intend to model such. Do you intend to model it just inside the classroom or outside as well? Kori mentions in a comment above that responsible digital citizenship, or what I think of as a digital footprint, could impact students' futures by playing a part in whether or not they get hired.
ReplyDeleteThis is about to become a potential sensitive subject, and I have though a while about whether to mention it at all. But I think maybe better me, than a future employer who decides not to hire you because of what they find there.
I was reading your blog last night and just to get a feel for who you are; where you live, and what you teach, how long you have been teaching, ect., I clicked on "view my complete profile" and was presented with your other blogs, in particular; "letters to span the distance". I didn't read far, but came across some content that I am not sure is setting a good personal example for what I would consider model digital citizenship. Now what you do in your own time is certainly your own business, but putting it out there in cyberspace for colleagues and potential employers to stumble across might not be in the best interest of your future in obtaining a full-time position in a very public occupation like teaching.
Tracy,
ReplyDeleteI understand where you are coming from and did not realize that blog had been changed to being able to be viewed by other when I had to change the settings on my blog for this class. That was something while my husband was away in Iraq, serving the country. I can understand where you are coming from and have fixed the setting problems. I can see how I can use this experience to teach my own students about their digital footprints.
Your comments have also made me think of how my students and even adults can feel uncomfortable if and when they make a misstep in forging their online identities.
DeleteIt has given me insight into the need to address the possibility of cyber bullying, and to differentiate between bully and misinterpretation. It has also given me a few ideas on how to address digital citizenship, as both a reader and a writer, and how communication in text can be misinterpreted.
it has made me aware of the need to teach my students that, although the internet may encourage open call-outs because interactions are anonymous, there are still very real consequences for both parties.
Delete